Introduction
Ethical and legal dilemmas are prevalent in the healthcare sector, and therefore, practitioners need to understand the ethical theory, law, and professional guidelines of their field. The law and the ethical principles control every aspect of health care. Nurses need to understand the ethical and legal procedures that underpin their practice. Additionally, all professionals in the healthcare field have a duty of care to their patients. Clinical observation is one of the legal guidelines that regulate the nursing profession with experience being important in understanding the roles of physicians and the workplace challenges. The Health and Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are the federal laws that regulate the privacy and security of patients’ protected health information. The two bodies ensure that clinical observation and protection of patient data are protected from landing in an unauthorized hand.
The Health and Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created OSHA to regulate and ensure that there are safe and healthful working conditions. OSHA ensures that it has trained, educated, assisted, and trained organizations on the safety of workers. The standards laid out by OSHA are published in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and are categorized into separate industries. According to the laid-out rules, one has to complete the OSHA training before one can enter a clinic as an observer. Additionally, regulators have to complete a Hepatitis B vaccine Immunization Record before being permitted to practice. Blood-borne pathogen tests and training are necessary for the team before they can start their work. Proper management the information on chemical accidents should properly be secured on a file. Observers must maintain updated accident report procedures, especially for needle sticks. Most importantly, the biohazards must be kept in biohazards containers in a properly labeled place.
The Health and Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that was enacted to develop national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without their consent. HIPAA has a privacy rule that addresses concerns about disclosure of the patient’s health information by healthcare organizations. For example, receptionists and observers in a clinic need to undergo HIPAA training before they enter or start working. Patients’ information must be kept in a safe place such as clinic cabinets and computers. Additionally, HIPAA requires charts to be kept in an area where relatives or patients cannot access them and should be returned to the front desk as soon as the doctors are through with them for safekeeping. The charts folders should not have the patients’ names nor should the student’s case sheets have their names. Therefore, observers should only use initials for easy identification of the patient. However, patient information should only be sent after he or she has signed the consent release form.
The clinical practice guidelines are a set of rules and recommendations for clinicians on how to care for the specific conditions of the patients. However, the practice should be based on the available research data and practice experience. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines clinical practice guidelines as a statement of recommendation to optimize patient care informed by an independent and systematic review of evidence. Therefore, the guidelines must be feasible, achievable, and measurable. The nurse should ensure they follow the best-laid practice that is supported by research and experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, legal and ethical regulations underpin every aspect of health care. Various bodies such as OSHA, HIPAA, and Clinical Guidelines have been developed to ensure that sensitive patient information has been protected from being disclosed without proper consent. OSHA regulates the safety of workers in almost every field. On the other hand, HIPAA regulates the disclosure of patient information to third parties by healthcare organizations. Nevertheless, nurses should follow the clinical guidelines that are supported by research and practice.